I decided to take a look at Windows 8 beta because more than a few people mentioned an idiotic change, which has removed "Shut down" from the Start menu. Although the Start button is still there, how can one shut down the machine without flipping the switch on the computer? After installing this OS (developer preview), it is apparent to me that there is a battle going on within the company over control of the graphical user interface (GUI). No one is in agreement about any of it.

Once you click Start from the desktop, it throws you into the alternate GUI, the "Metro" tiled UI. Then, a menu with four items appears. Click on "Settings" and a huge "Settings" sidebar slides in. There are no real settings on here except the speaker volume and minor things like the default language. But alas, there is a universal power icon, too. Click on that and you get the sleep/shutdown/restart submenu. Voilà! This is the same as before, only two clicks further away! Progress!

Having resolved this issue, I began to explore this product, which is in beta and hardly official or ready for prime time. It wouldn't recognize the trackpad or the trackpoint on my IBM keyboard, for example, and I had to use the mouse to navigate. It also failed to save this column properly. But these issues will get fixed.

The bigger problem is the schizophrenic nature of the GUI. To me, it looks like three different UIs. The old "desktop" seems to be where all the apps are actually meant to run. The Metro interface is where you start. In the actual start screen, the Metro interface does what it can to throw you into the old desktop, which looks pretty much like Windows 7.

In fact, there are two tiles, "Windows Explorer" and "Desktop" that both send you to the exact same desktop. Why two? Oh wait, if you click on the Start button from Metro, it also sends you to the desktop. Well, that's unless you stupidly hit the spacebar or return key in Metro to open automatically the browser, which shows up in full screen and cannot be minimized unless you locate the icon to view it on the desktop.

Now, when you hit the same Start button from Metro, it does not go to the desktop but to the full-screen browser.

This sort of take-a-chance-and-see-what-happens form of navigation continues throughout the session. I personally think it will drive some users crazy. I find it much like a guessing game in which you are amazed at what comes next. For example, for reasons I cannot quite figure out, the Start button will sometimes throw up the little menu while you are on the desktop, but other times it throws you right into Metro. This is probably just a bug, but there is no way that this on-screen battle between Metro and the desktop is anything other than deliberate, messy, and stupid.

If Microsoft wants to play with a new interface, then it should go all the way and develop a whole packagea competitive version of Windows. Bring out Windows 8 and also Windows 8 Metro and let the users decide with their money. If the company thinks Metro is the future, then show some guts and go all-in. This weird, schizoid approach is just plain annoying. My advice to those at Microsoft who think Metro is cool or groovy is to quit software design and get a job at Old Navy. Seriously, you are way off base with this idea.

Not to mention, there is the control panel accessed from Metro, which takes you to a simplified control panel layout. You'd think this would have something to do with Settings, but no. It's actually a quite sane and pleasant design. It's easy to understand and is a third interface. If you click the Start button while on the Metro interface, you now jump to this, rather than the browser or the desktop.

Of course, the problem with this control panel is that it essentially does nothing; you think I'm kidding, I'm sure. To do anything in depth, you actually have to go to the desktop and the old-fashioned control panel.

Most of these issues might be resolved before the public ever gets a look at this product. Although, this is supposed to be nearly done, so I doubt it. Mysterious icons, such as Shop and Remote Desktop, still linger with no apparent function. It doesn't take a genius to see what's going on here. When you look around, you see apparent tablet functionality.

Will this thing be perfected by the end of the year? I hope so. Will Microsoft resolve the schizophrenic issues? The nature of schizophrenia in and of itself says no. This interface is going to be screwy when it comes out, I'm sure of it. I'm also sure there will be heated debates between the old-school desktop folks and the ersatz metro hipsters at the company.

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About the Author

John C. Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the co-host of the twice weekly podcast, the No Agenda Show. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, PC/Computing, Computer Shopper, MacUser, Barrons, the DEC Professional as well as other newspapers and magazines. Former editor and consulting editor for InfoWorld, he... See Full Bio

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